life story

The thought of sitting down at my computer and writing my entire life story from birth-to-now makes me want to take a nap. It’s not that I don’t think writing a personal history is important: You know I do. It’s my current raison d’être, after all. Nevertheless, I would NEVER counsel anyone to approach personal […]

If you read this blog occasionally, you know I encourage my students and readers to submit their stories to writing competitions. Some contests want narrative essay pieces, which can be a form of personal history. My students often wonder what a narrative essay is and how it differs from a story. It’s a good question, […]

I just finished reading Mary Karr’s Lit, a memoir I admire as much as The Liars Club, her earlier bestselling memoir. Her latest book chronicles her descent into alcohol addiction and then shows how good friends help her cast aside her life-long atheism to embrace a faith that turns her life around. The book is […]